A recent mock is right in choosing RJ Barrett over Ja Morant at 2 for Cavs
By Dan Gilinsky
If the Cleveland Cavaliers eventually have the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, a recent mock draft is right in noting Cleveland should go with Duke’s RJ Barrett over Murray State’s Ja Morant.
In a perfect world, the Cleveland Cavaliers will win the 2019 NBA draft lottery, and receive the right to select consensus number one overall pick Zion Williamson, a potential superstar forward out of Duke that could feasibly affect games more than any rookie has in the Association since LeBron James did for Cleveland back in 2003.
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Cleveland is tied for having the best chances to win this year’s draft lottery, a 14.0% chance (per Tankathon), thanks to the Cavaliers having one of the league’s three worst records during the 2018-19 season (alongside the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns) and that ensures them having the best lottery-winning chance with this year’s new NBA lottery rules, as we’ve touched on often here at KJG.
Along with that, Cleveland reportedly won a draft lottery positioning draw with the Suns, who had the same amount of wins last year, which was 19 (per NBA.com), placing the Cavs as essentially the team with the second-best worst-case scenario draft odds (basically, the worst-case lottery scenario for them is drafting sixth and Phoenix’s worst-case is drafting seventh now, per Tankathon).
So at this point, it’s reasonable to think that the Cleveland Cavaliers, based on their lottery odds, will draft second in this year’s lottery behind the New York Knicks at the 1 spot (Cleveland also has the 26th overall pick via the Houston Rockets from a previously noted three-team trade with the Rockets and Sacramento Kings, by the way).
Taking that possibility into account, a recent mock draft by CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone has Cleveland selecting Duke wing RJ Barrett with the second pick, with them going with Barrett over Murray State point guard Ja Morant, who is the best playmaker in the draft, according to seemingly all respected draft pundits.
Morant averaged 24.5 points on 55.3% effective field goal shooting (including a 36.3% hit rate from three-point range), to go with 5.7 rebounds, and had 10.0 assists per game, leading to him leading the nation in total assists, according to Sports Reference.
It’s reasonable for Boone to say Morant is the “best passer in this draft class,” as even against NBA competition, with Morant’s athleticism, vision and ability to change speeds, he should be able to penetrate and make things happen for his teammates in the Association and put up quality assist numbers right away.
Nonetheless, with Cleveland’s last draft pick, scoring point guard Collin Sexton, showing why he can be a building block player last year (as he averaged 16.7 points on 48.0% effective field goal shooting to go with 3.0 assists per game, per Basketball Reference), I agree with Boone’s preference of Barrett over Morant for general manager Koby Altman and the Cavaliers if they get the number two pick, even though Cleveland had the second-lowest assist average of NBA teams last year (per NBA.com).